Ron Hutchcraft Ministries - A Life for a Life

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in an interview that there were ongoing negotiations about exchanging three American hikers being held in Tehran for several Iranians jailed for years in the United States.

Iran's foreign minister said in late December that the three hikers would be tried in court, but he did not say when a trial would begin or what the three would be charged with other than to say they had "suspicious aims." Earlier, the country's chief prosecutor said they were accused of spying.

While prisoner swapping is a common way of negotiating among conflicting countries, there is one ultimate swap on the books that resulted in one man's death and a once-for-all payment made for all the wrongdoings of mankind. When Jesus gave His life on the cross, He was saying, in essence, "Father, I know these people deserve to die for the trespassing of your commands, but I willingly take their place so that they can go free."

This ultimate exchange of Jesus' life in our place was different than any other prisoner swap in history, because Jesus was not only innocent, he was perfect. He wasn't a prisoner of men because of their strength but because of the authority given to them by the Father. And the exchange of Jesus' life was not just for a few other people who had been charged with a crime. It was for the whole world.

The unfortunate reality is that there are still millions of people who are being held captive to sin and are looking at an eternal death sentence apart from Christ. They are desperate to find out that someone has already paid for their ransom from sin's slavery. Will you be the one to tell them?